Today's Lesson in Why Reading Food Labels Is Important

The New York Times today has a story about food labeling that's funny, but in a troubling sort of way. Zabar's, a gourmet market in New York City, has sold "lobster salad" for fifteen years. Last week, however, a reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune revealed that this "lobster salad" contains no actual lobster.

How did he discover this? An undercover investigation? Hidden cameras in the kitchen? Nights spent staking out seafood wholesalers?

Nope.

[The reporter] checked the label. "Wild fresh water crayfish?" he wrote. "Really? At $16.95 per pound?"

The Maine Lobster Council got involved, and eventually Zabar's agreed to change the salad's name. Its new moniker? "Seafare Salad," a name borrowed from a discontinued Zabar's salad that was made with...wait for it...imitation crab.